The hardest but addicting game you ever played

[Argeus_the_Paladin]

Has to be Angband. It's more like an exercise in how-far-you-can-go-before-yet-another-stupid-death than playing to win. And yet it is still strangely awesome and addicting.

Most stupid death in my book: Discarded anti-paralyze gear before dungeon level 20 to increase DPT. Got stunlocked to death by a single Carrion Crawler. That was my best character.

[Auro-Cyanide]

From what I have heard from my brother Demon Souls and Dark Souls would have to be up there. It has a very interesting Death and Save system that makes the whole game extremely challenging, not to mention the actual difficulty of the enemies that you fight. And stuff jumps out of everywhere, including traps. It's extremely addictive for anyone with a competitive nature. Some of the best western styled RPGs to come out of Japan in my opinion.

[Barnox]

I'd say the games I've been playing that fit that description are Guilty Gear XX #Reload, and Touhou: Imperishable Night.

Guilty Gear especially. Just when I think I'm getting good, the enemy kill me in a single combo I can't seem to escape out of.

[teacup]

I already said Devil Survivor, but now I have to add Devil Survivor 2.
Seriously, I love these games for their story, but some of the battles are just... brutally difficult at times. I don't think I've ragequit so many times in a game EVER.
I love a challenge don't get me wrong, but I really want to find out how the game ends and the battles are SO unforgiving. Atlus why must you be so cruel!

[ThisIsNoName]

It's not the most difficult game I've played, but for difficult and addicting, I have to say Devil May Cry 3. It has one of the best paced stories I've seen, not to mention the responsiveness of the moves. Add in all the different styles and playing as Vergil... Easily one of the best games I've played.

[BlindClarity]

Star Ocean.

[Joshua1207]

Super Meat Boy is pretty hard.
Catherine was hard too, but goddamn it felt great when I golded everything on hard, I even managed to make it to #1 on the leaderboards for a little bit on one of the babel stages for the 360 version. Never did finish Axis Mundi though, although it was supposedly bugged. Didn't finish the Rapunzel stages either, I really should though. But yeah, Catherine is probably one of the most difficult games I've played and most fun at the same time. Its my all-time favorite game.

[teacup]

Super Meat Boy is pretty hard.
Catherine was hard too, but goddamn it felt great when I golded everything on hard, I even managed to make it to #1 on the leaderboards for a little bit on one of the babel stages for the 360 version. Never did finish Axis Mundi though, although it was supposedly bugged. Didn't finish the Rapunzel stages either, I really should though. But yeah, Catherine is probably one of the most difficult games I've played and most fun at the same time. Its my all-time favorite game.

How could I forget about Catherine :0
I totally agree with what you said. I love that game to death, but gosh, those puzzles get FRUSTRATING. And yet... could not stop playing.
I could only handle it on normal difficulty myself. My boyfriend did it on hard mode, and even I was getting frustrated just from watching. (It is also a really interesting game to play with your boyfriend/girlfriend All those relationship questions...)
Still though, amazing game~ It's incredibly difficult at times, but there's so much awesomeness that the frustration is worth it.

[uselessp]

For me, the hardest is kingdom hearts final mix + (special disc of the kingdom hearts 2. Japanese version, including some extras inside.)

Sure it's pretty hard, but still passable. Except that when I reached hard mode, versus extra boss from the birth by sleep. (The enemy is insanely powerful!!)

But I can't help to be addictive about this. I WANT to complete every single games I bought.

[kara24601]

Any game where one can die too easily but has a very interesting feature / story ( quite a few survival horror games are this for me) and ok , good , or great art / graphics. Then there's games like Ico and SOTC that are hard due to bugs and technical issues rather than in-game difficulty level.

[Taleweaver]

Gotta mention La-Mulana here - a tough-as-nails indie Metroidvania that looks and plays like an oldschool MSX game. VERY long and hard - and satisfying as few other games in the world.

[yu1988]

Diablo 3 if you don't auction =/... It's completely unbearable lol.

I'm still waiting for Dark Souls on PC to experience the scary difficulty.

[dhussey111]

for me its counter stirke 1.6 and i am playing this game for about 4 year's

[AxemRed]

Just finished vvvvvv, getting the veni vidi vici trinket was absolutely brutal (took me over half an hour :V).

[Kuroneko_rg]

Since I go for old school games from time to time, I have to say Battletoads.

Probably the most painful and yet addictive game to beat I ever played.